More than a plug-and-play piece, Moser, 25, has become a key to the Lightning’s penurious play in the neutral zone and kept their defense corps afloat amid a rash of injuries. Moser has excelled in creating dense structure and erasing mistakes when it breaks down alike, earning the trust and esteem of his coaches and teammates.

He started the year playing his offside opposite top defender Victor Hedman, but he filled Hedman’s No. 1 spot as he recovered from elbow surgery. Without other veterans like Ryan McDonagh, Moser and partner Darren Raddysh have become a surprise smash at the Bolts’ top pairing.

“The name of the game is adjusting. Every team has injuries; every team has its own struggle. And I think, yeah, it’s just about whoever can adjust the best, and I think that is what we have done,” Moser said in an exclusive interview with R.org. “We have stayed on pace, even though we had a couple of injuries. And, yeah, there’s been opportunities for some, and adjustments for others. I think it has been going pretty well.”

Over the summer, Moser changed trainers and took firmer control of his offseason preparation, which led to results in more ways than one.

“I changed my summer off-ice routine. When you come into the league, you’re more looking up to other guys that already have been doing it, so you kind of (mimic) them,” Moser said. “I felt like it was time to start building my own stuff, to get more ownership and say, ‘all right, if this doesn’t work, it’s, it’s on me. It’s not just doing what everyone else does.’ But then you have more opportunity to do it exactly the way you want it. So that’s been very exciting, and I think it paid off.”

It paid off in the form of a fresh eight-year, $54 million extension. GM Julien BriseBois’s latest savvy move turned core piece –– following the path of players like Canadian Olympians Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, and Brayden Point –– said the process of extending was very straightforward.

“It was kind of a quick process. It was kind of clear from the start the way they would handle the situation, that we were either gonna find [common ground with] each other or we were gonna put it away and revisit it after the season, just to not affect you too much with the season with ongoing negotiations for months and months,” said Moser, adding that he had plenty of motivation to stick around.

“It’s easy to sign in an organization that handles their people so well, from top to bottom. It’s just a class organization with so many people that are just class people. So it was super easy to kind of want to stay here. And then it was just about, yeah, finding a number. There were just a couple of back-and-forth [exchanges]. And then at one point, you’re like, all right, this is a good opportunity, and you’ve got to seize it when you can.”

Praise for Cooper, Kucherov

On the day Jon Cooper became just the fifth coach to guide one franchise through 1,000 or more regular-season games, Moser lauded his leadership.

“‘Coop’ does an unreal job to value every player for what he brings, and that gives you the feeling that you want to pay that back. You want to offer your best every night and give whatever you have,” Moser said. “He has been very good in leading the players, feeling the group and knowing what we need. It’s been a very, very pleasant experience with him.”

Transitioning from one of the NHL’s least stable franchises, the Arizona Coyotes (now the Utah Mammoth), to one of its exemplary clubs in Tampa following the Mikhail Sergachev deal two summers ago has also exposed the modern defender to one of the most creative offensive forces in the league, winger Nikita Kucherov.

“When you get the chance to watch him everyday in practice, you see all these little details that are hard to imagine looking at them from the outside. You see him doing great things and making these so-called blind passes that are not really blind at all,” said Moser of Kucherov. “You’re like, ‘wait, how is that possible?’ And then you come into the team, and you work with him, and you see it on a daily basis. Then you realize, ‘oh, hey, all right. It all makes sense now, because he works in that every single day.’”

Olympics Excitement

Not only has Moser developed into a valued asset for a Bolts bunch that won three conference crowns at the outset of the decade and has sought to refresh its competitive window, but he will be an integral part of the Swiss side in neighboring Italy this February. Switzerland has won silver four times at the World Championships since 2013, including each of the last two tournaments. Yet the Swiss have not medaled at the Olympics since taking bronze in 1928 and 1948, two instances in which they were the host nation at St. Moritz.

“It’s amazing to have it that close to home, and already it’s amazing to just have all the NHL guys playing in a tournament, best on best. I’m very excited for the whole thing,” Moser said. “We’re excited to see what we can do, especially with the good results in the last international tournaments. I think I know it’s a little bit different with all North American players coming, but yeah, we’re very excited to just compete with the best and see where we’re at.”

Among the best will be a league-high 10 Lightning teammates. That’s all the more remarkable since Kucherov and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy would have skated for Russia if not for the ban on the Russian and Belarusian selections at these games. Moser said he was proud of his teammates and that he was looking forward to the on-ice dynamic facing them as opponents.

“If you can play against your teammates, it’s not only fun but always interesting, because you know their tendencies, but they know your tendencies, too,” Moser said. “Seeing how that goes is certainly very interesting. It’s going to be cool to have that many guys going there and sharing that experience.”

He trash-talked his opponent on national TV before the national title game. He went from being “built to be a Flyer” to being destined for anywhere but Philly, leading to his being traded to Anaheim before the afterglow of his stirring performance at the 2023-24 World Juniors diminished.

Two years on, he is prospering in Orange County. He paces the Ducks with 19 goals and a commensurate number of assists. He was even a fringe candidate for Team USA at the upcoming Olympics and, in a contract year, has solidified himself as part of the Ducks’ blossoming nucleus.

Ahead of the flock’s trip east, which will pit them against the Flyers in its second game on Tuesday, Gauthier made time for an exclusive interview with R.org.

Interview with Cutter Gauthier

– First off, how do you feel you progressed in your first full season in the NHL under Greg Cronin and how have you continued to move forward this season playing for Joel Quenneville?

– Last year was my first year in the league, and it was a really good learning year. It was my first time going to all these different buildings and going on the road. I wasn’t really too sure what to expect in an NHL lifestyle. By the end of the year, I felt really comfortable with the group of guys we had, and obviously knowing that going into the summer and having a really strong summer, and knowing what to expect coming into this year. And so far, so good.

– Of course, the Team USA roster was just announced. It was a very competitive selection process, even established stars like Adam Fox and Jason Robertson missed the cut. I know that even as a younger guy you were excited to be in the mix. Does not making this roster motivate you for the future, especially with the NHL committed to the next couple tournaments?

– Yeah. Yeah, definitely. It was a goal of mine going into the season. I’ve represented my country a handful of times, on every single level except the Olympics. It would have been a huge honor. But it’s just, you know, a chip on the shoulder. I’ll try to get better, and then try to make the next team.

– Your dad was a goalie. Let me ask you, when did you start scoring on him consistently? Who were the other people or entities in your upbringing and the early part of your career that were really influential for you?

– The main one was my dad, who obviously got me into hockey at a young age. He played goalie, and he’d always run goalie clinics out in Scottsdale. I was a young guy just shooting on goalies and trying to find ways to score. That really helped my game as a young fella. The Coyotes organization and Honey Baked, the youth hockey programs, did a great job developing me and giving me the opportunity to play my game and perform. It was a great childhood that really helped me get to where I am.

– You’ve got a big road trip coming up, and I know last year, a big date circled on your calendar was the trip to Philly. I’ve worked Stanley Cup Final series, World Series, you name it, and never seen fans take control of a game like the Flyers crowd did last year. How do you tune that or otherwise prepare for it, now that it’s around the corner again?

– I mean, now we’ve played there before, so it’s nothing new. I know what to expect going into it. And, you know, first we’ve got Washington, so that’s the main focus as we move forward, and we do pre-scouts to get ready to go. That’s a big game. And, yeah, when we play Philly, it’ll be a good game. They’ve got a good team this year, and it’ll be an exciting atmosphere.

– I know you’ve declined repeatedly to discuss the reason for the rift in Philly, if it was about specific incidents or more general disagreement, but how are you finding life on the West Coast and the situation here?

– I believe everything happens for a reason. I’m super happy with the Anaheim Ducks and everything they’ve done for me. They’re the team that traded for me and believed in my ability to play this league. They’ve been nothing but first-class, treating me with respect and giving me the opportunity to grow my game in the National Hockey League.

– Heading into the road trip, you guys had won just two of your last 11 games. You fired out of the starting blocks and had that seven-game win streak early, but haven’t had much linear progress since. Where do you think things are flagging a little, and what positive signs do you see that they could get back up to that early-season level?

– We came out super strong at the start of the year, just playing our game, and things were going our way. We were getting a lot of good bounces. The last 10 or 11 games haven’t gone our way. You know, it’s not always going to be highs throughout the season. It’s a long season, 82 games, and you just can’t get too low, or can’t get too high when things are going good or when things are going bad. So, you gotta find the good in it and keep coming to the rink every single day and trying to get better and focus on the things that we didn’t do as well the last game, and try to get the win next game.

– Before the season, Mason McTavish signed his extension deep into training camp, and then Jackson LaCombe re-upped for a max term with a franchise record sum starting next season. You, Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov, and Olen Zellweger are all pending restricted free agents. Has there been any discussions between you, your agent Kurt Overhardt, and Ducks GM Pat Verbeek yet?

– You know, nothing. Not, not yet. It’s a long season. There’s a lot of hockey to play. I’ve only played, you know, a year and a half in the league so far. I still have a lot to prove, you know. I’m just trying to do everything I can to help this team win and make the playoffs this year.

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